Renegades/Three
THREE anika LUKE'S ANGER WAS warranted, Anika knew, but she couldn’t help but feel a stone of despair in her stomach when morning came. Except when morning came, Luke didn’t come storming into the den as she feared. In fact, he was not even in the den when Anika padded outside to the common area, where four of the Renegades were sprawled and still asleep. Syora was at the entrance, monitoring the street. “You’re finally awake. For someone who wants to solve a murder case, you sure know how to waste time.” Anika peered outside and was confounded when she could see that the sun was barely up. “Where’s Luke?” She asked as a way of greeting. “Out.” The light brown tabby she-cat turned to face Anika. “Why do you ask anyway?” She sneered. “Wanted to see your tom one last time before he kicked you out? I don’t even know why he brought you here.” Before Anika could retort back, Luke appeared at the entrance. “Because we need her help.” Anika gaped at the gray tom but all Syora did was smack him. “Why didn’t you tell me first? I hate looking like an idiot.” Luke gave her a bemused look before turning to Anika, something flashing in his eyes. “Walk with me. I have matters I want to discuss with you and things I want you to see.” He didn’t give her any chance to protest as he was already gone. Anika muttered under her breath but darted out after him into the cold morning. Luke set a brisk pace and Anika found herself striding to keep up with him. He was always this way, she recalled; he never went anywhere without striding. “It’s faster,” Luke had once told her, “why would you waste time by walking slow?” “We could just run,” Anika had suggested. “Running is for the cowardly,” Luke had scoffed, “We’re not in any rush, are we? We’re not in any danger, and if we are, we should just face our enemy and fight.” “You have that look on your face that says you’re remembering something,” Luke interrupted her train of thoughts. “Remembering a past that you can’t get back?” He nodded to the streets. “These dens should refresh your memory.” Anika looked about. They had crossed into the rich sector, right into Rose. “Only sector I can get in without being searched,” Luke shrugged. She noticed his pelt was looking a bit more pristine today. If he tried hard enough, Anika remembered, Luke could fit right into the rich. Except now, he had three ugly scratches that marked his left paw and had a scowl fixed on his handsome face. “I remember the way we used to investigate,” Anika admitted. “It makes me a bit nostalgic.” “Don’t expect me to return the sentiment.” Luke snapped. Anika looked away, trying to keep her hurt reeled in. It was her fault that Luke was acting this way and she knew it. It had been reckless of her to accuse Luke of the murder but if she was being honest…she had done it to protect him too. She still remembered that night clearly, when she chose to turn Luke in rather than keeping looking for the murderer. They had been making absolutely no progress and were being led in circles. Someone knew they were in on the case and like Luke had said yesterday, the two of them were geniuses, even at twelve moons. Anika had known she was being hunted. Her own family had died long before Anika knew them and she had been raised with Zeke’s family. The black tom was more of a friend still than a brother, because Anika had left the den as soon as she could take care of herself. She had no interest in being reliant on others. “Tell me what that face says.” Luke was watching her carefully. “Don’t hide secrets from me, Anika, not anymore.” She flushed. “It’s not something we should discuss here.” Luke blinked. His electric blue eyes were still as vibrant as Anika remembered and she bit her lip as she met his willful gaze. “It’s confidential. I don’t want other cats to hear us.” She explained. He continued to stare at her. She wanted to explain, yearned to explain, but not in the open. If Anika shared what she thought had really happened all those moons ago, she suspected it wouldn’t be long before someone tracked them both down. In fact, they shouldn’t be out here alone. When she voiced this sentiment to Luke, he laughed sharply. “Nobody’s going to attack us, Anika, dear. They’ll see these,” he flashed his convict marks, “and scurry.” “And the police?” Anika dared to ask. “When your gang is the best in the Alley, the police tend to look the other way.” Luke shrugged. “She’s been dead for ten moons, Anika, what do you want those cats to do? The murderer is dead; they don’t care about me.” Anika loosed a sigh. “Who was he?” “Someone who doesn’t matter anymore.” “No,” Anika whirled on him. “He does matter. There are more of them, can’t you see? There are murders in the rich sectors again and he went after your family. This isn’t just a target at the rich. It’s an attack on us.” Luke just stared at her warily, his hackles slightly raised. “Don’t speak of my family,” he said coldly. His eyes darted around. “You didn’t think about them when you turned me in. You should have known what would have happened to them.” “How?” Anika lashed her tail. “I didn’t know someone would target them instead. Don’t you understand? We were the targets. Kiri was a jab at me. They wanted us to get close so they could take us out.” Luke shook his head slowly. “I don’t understand.” Anika wished they weren’t in the open. She lowered her voice to a low growl so that only Luke could hear her. “That night I left, I was being hunted. Someone was trying to catch me alone so they could get rid of me, so that I wouldn’t figure out who the murderer was. I knew I had to get away but I thought if I could just get you somewhere safe--” “Prison isn’t safe,” Luke’s eyes flashed. “You’re a fool.” Anika’s fur fluffed up in indignation. “You couldn’t run with me. I knew about your mother and sister; I remember them as clearly as if they were my own, Luke. If you ran away with me, who would care for them?” “When I went to prison, nobody cared for them.” Luke snarled in her face. “You were selfish. You wanted freedom. You wanted the investigation to be an easy one. Did you even love me?” His eyes widened at the words. Anika’s breath whooshed out of her. She didn’t know what to say but Luke had already spun around and stalked away, his legs eating up the distance as she stood there, rooted in shock. “Wait!” She called out, dashing after him. “You can’t just walk away like that.” She panted. “I’m going to show you the clue I found,” Luke said in a low voice, “and then we’re going to go back. I don’t plan on discussing anything else with you, Anika. The past is in the past.” You asked if I loved you. Anika wanted to say. Didn’t you know I did? But she kept her mouth shut and followed him swiftly through the streets. They entered Pine sector and at the very edge of the Twolegplace, Luke stopped. Anika glanced warily around. In front of her was the forest and part of her longed to reach the lush woods, to feel the soft moss underneath her paws, to feel the coolness on her pelt as she strolled through the shadows. But she remembered the fear in her friends’ eyes when the cats had came and murdered them. It was a warning, just like everything else. “What am I supposed to be looking for?” She inquired as she searched the barren ground. “Exactly,” Luke spat out. “This is how pointless this search is, Anika. It’s not going to be like last time. There isn’t going to be any clues, and I sure don’t care about any of this rich fools.” Anika made herself meet his fierce gaze. “You used to care.” “I used to be a lot of things, Anika. Don’t come back to the den with me. If you want to search this place, do it yourself. Get your own paws dirty for once.” He whirled and stalked off into the gloom. Anika stood where she was, staring off after him for a very, very long time. ~ She hadn’t told him everything: of the nightmares that plagued her daily, of her fears that she would bring sorrow and destruction to everyone in the world, of her love for him that was still as strong as it was ten moons ago. Anika had been standing at the edge of Pine sector for a good hour before she looked down and gasped. No clues, huh? She sniffed the ground warily before approaching the border where she spotted a section of shredded grass and torn mud. Not unusual for a hunting spot except for the fact that tufts of fur littered the ground. No scents. Whatever happened here was long enough that Anika couldn’t pick up a thing. She scouted around a bit before shaking her head and bending to pick up the fur. Hair on her back rose as Anika froze, cocking her head to listen. A silence had overtaken the area and Anika knew without looking that someone was watching her. Praying silently, Anika pretended to not know someone was there and wished fervently that it was just Luke coming back to help her. But she knew it wasn’t the light gray tom. Anika waited, her ears casually pricked, her claws already out. Moons of hunting in the forest made the calico she-cat aware of every movement made around her and she tensed as she felt something move behind her and then Anika was rolling out of the way and lashing out with her claws. A cat howled as her claws tore through his skin. Anika leaped to her paws and spotted two more cats circling her. Three versus one. Anika breathed through her nose, trying to stay calm. She was good, trained from her forest friends, but she was not as skilled as she wanted to be. If these cats were trained assassins, then Anika was surely dead. Her only chance was to outrun them. Anika crouched down, ready to tackle one of the cats and flee when a light gray shape shot through the air and tackled the first tom to the ground. Anika could only stare as Luke unceremoniously ripped out his throat and flung himself at the second cat. The third was already making a beeline for Anika and she brought up her claws, blocking his blows before kicking out and knocking him aside. She wanted to run right then, but Luke was already at her side, his paw pinning down the assailant. “Wait,” Anika breathed out, “don’t kill him.” Luke looked up at her, his pelt streaked with blood. “Don’t kill him?” He repeated a bit incredulously, “If I let him go now, he’ll just hunt you down in the future. This is a lesson for all others that if they come back, I’ll kill every single one of them.” Anika shuddered. She hated hearing the bloodlust in Luke’s tone, as if he wanted to be a killer. How much had he really changed since they were twelve moons old? “Even so,” she insisted, “he can be the messenger.” Luke’s eyes were smoldering. “Never knew you were soft-hearted.” He said, but he stepped off the tom and hauled him up. “You’re going to tell your leader that if he comes after us again, I won’t hesitate to tear all your throats out.” The tom just spat in his face before fleeing. Luke wiped his face off and cleaned as much of the blood as he could before he turned to Anika. “That’s the last assassin I’m sparing,” he warned her, “next time they come for you, none of them are living.” “Why?” Anika’s eyebrows flitted up in surprise. She didn’t even think Luke was coming back to save her. “You don’t care about me.” Luke just stalked past her, growling. “I care about cats who think they can get away with murder.” Anika stood where she was, staring after him. One glance at the bloodied floor told her that she wasn’t getting anything out of this site anymore. The clue she had was long scuffed away by the fight and Anika was in no hurry to try to pick up bloodstained fur. Luke was several paces away when he half-turned. “Are you going to stand there all day or are you coming?” The calico she-cat started in shock. “You’re asking me to come back with you?” Luke leveled her a hard stare. “I wouldn’t have saved your sorry tail if I wanted you dead. If I leave you here, you’ll be dead before the night is over. And sadly, you seem like you’re going to be worth the trouble to be kept around. There is a murder case to be solved it seems.” Anika felt delight run through her but she pushed it away when she reminded herself of Luke’s faults. And of the scowl imprinted on his face as he waited for her. “I’ll be gone faster if you help,” was all she said as she brushed past him. Category:Renegades